Friday, November 29, 2013

More fun at the BG! He's big enough to ride on his own now, which is so confusing that he's brave enough to do things on his own. As I'm told often, "I do it by myself, Mommy." Its those moment that you are both proud that he's so independent and heartbroken that he no longer needs you!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Elmo was dressed up for Halloween this time. Last time we took Derek (just last summer) to the good ole Busch Gardens, he could barely communicate. He only knew Elmo, as "La la!" since that what he sings after all "La la la la, Elmo's song, etc." Though slightly intimidated, Derek was brave enough to stand with one of his favorite Sesame pals. However, he was terrified of the Count (I mean, isn't he a vampire after all?!), so this was it for fuzzy furry encounters.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Here is the little man is stealing/hotwiring? a golf cart (or at least pretending to drive one). He did ask me the other day about "What is golf" since I told him Mike was off to play in some neighborhood tournament (a very rare oddity for Mike) and since he's wanted to "go goff."

Next few posts are of our adventures at my college alma mater in Wiliamsburg. We met up with good buddines, including Tita Kelly, who was thoughtful enough to remember Dek's bday coming up and got him legos and a rocket launcher. Both which he has obsessed over recently. He is becoming toy obsessed more and its hard to tear him out of any place where toys are purposely stacked at knee-level so Dek harass us to buy him things: "Mommy, I NEED THIS." Thanks Tita Kelly for the lovely presents!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Gearing up for some Halloween Fun. Derek had asked to be a lion for WEEEKS. So we finally ordered him this little number off eBay for a discount, but turns out the legs were a bit short so we ended up altering our plans. Plus once we ordered it, Derek insisted on being a short list of other things including:
Lizard
Dolphin
Choo Choo Train

Suffice to say, we're not asking his opinion on the Halloween costume until we absolutely have to buy a costume in the future.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Our beloved and favorite little man, Derek Thien, turns 3! The past year has been another big one with leaps and bounds of changes and growing.

(Height and Weight Stats pending December doctor's visit)

When comparing him to his just turned 2 picture, he looks almost gigantic. He's left those toddler steps behind and blossoming into a full-fledged 3 year old. Here is the full food report:Foods he loves still/ or has grown to love:
Spaghetti, rice anything (noodles/milk/white/brown), pho, sardines, salmon, apples, grapes, sweet potatoes, adobo chicken, spring rolls, steak (so posh, I swear), turkey sandwiches, plantain chips, coconut yogurt and pricey goat cheese.

Foods we gave into giving him, and he loves or he gets while at grandma/autie's houses:
Fish sticks, dumplings, siopao buns, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, PopsiclesFoods he won't touch:
Anything remotely green, though we are still successful in sneaking in kale shakes here and there.

We're still figuring out his food allergies, his 3 year old tests came back with a touch of more

Skillz - Though he's clearly demonstrated a preference for English given that its the majority language he hears at school and while Mike and I speak. He is still speaking a fair amount of Vietnamese, and some Tagalog, when prodded. He started noticing that I would respond to him better if he talked/ordered me around in Vietnamese, for example, I'll hear "Mommy, turn on the light... (pause). ME OI! BAT DEN LEN!") Of course, the Viet has to be super loud which Mike just loooves. He also surprisingly picks up syntax and grammar (Mike: "Derek, you have to take a bath, being dirty is not an option. Derek: "No, dirty IS an option!"). He also told me in Viet that he and dad saw a fox while biking, even though I only taught him the word for fox many weeks ago when pointing it out on a book once or twice. He's figured out who in the family knows Viet, so with grandma and aunts, he's getting better at putting together sentences though its still a bit more basic than his English since he hears English all the time.

Motor skills wise, we can't stop him from running or jumping. Though his ability to listen to directions has improved significantly, we is just one wiggly worm still. He is kicking balls, running up stairs, riding a bike (started peddling around 2.5), and can climb some of the really large structures at the playground now. He's still not really into the arts and crafts scene, which I lament, since coloring was a great past time as a child, but maybe next year.